Public Policy Network

Notebooks, pencils and friendly ghosts have hit the shelves as stores across America begin to display back-to-school merchandise and Halloween decorations. The collective groans that summer just started is the time-honored response, but retailers have good reason for trying to be the first to attract consumers.

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America's love of roller coasters dates back to June 1884 when the country’s first roller coaster opened in Coney Island, New York. Inventor LaMarcus Thompson was inspired by the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway in Eastern Pennsylvania, which carried coal downhill. The railway attracted so much interest that rides were eventually offered to the public.

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There's talk of a "new normal" in news articles, business plans and school emails. Everything has changed, from buying groceries to celebrating birthdays online, and many believe these changes will become permanent.

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These days, Pittsburghers and those that loved Mr. Fred Rogers can’t help by think of his famous words to “look for the helpersâ€Â as the news continues to carry stories of tragedy, crowded hospitals, supply shortages, job losses and the resulting economic impact on so many.

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February brings the familiar tradition of a pulling a groundhog from his borrow at dawn to see if his shadow appears, resulting in six more weeks of winter. His forecasting accuracy is a dismal 39 percent, but that doesn't stop crowds from braving frigid temperatures to witness the world-famous weather prognosticator's prediction each year.

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In addition to the historic nature of any presidential impeachment, this is the second time in U.S. history that an impeachment trial has occurred during a year the president was facing an election. In 1868, President Andrew Johnson was acquitted in the Senate by one vote, but later that year, he failed to receive his party's presidential nomination during a dramatic convention.

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